A new trend is doing the rounds on social media, featuring an image of a penguin apparently wandering away from its colony into the barren interior of Antarctica. The meme, dubbed “Nihilist Penguin”, has gone viral across platforms, and the White House has also joined the trend by posting an image of US President Donald Trump alongside the penguin in what was seen as an extension of the Republican leader’s obsession with Greenland.
In the image, a penguin holds the US flag, while the mountains carry the Greenland flag, with the caption, “Embrace the Penguin.” However, it did not go viral online as the White House may have expected.
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The ‘Nihilist Penguin’ meme trend
A short video showing a lone penguin moving away from its group towards far-off Antarctic mountains has gone viral. Netizens have dubbed it the “Nihilist Penguin”.
Social media users have described the bird as a sign of existential crisis, defiance and a search for purpose. “It feels lonely. It feels existential. It feels human,” a user wrote on X.
Where does the meme originate from?
The meme traces back to Werner Herzog’s 2007 film “Encounters at the End of the World”. The clip features an Adelie penguin moving away from its colony and walking off towards the Antarctic landscape.
Over time, this moment turned into what many now refer to as the “Nihilist Penguin” or “Lonely Penguin”.
Penguins usually stay together in large groups along the Antarctic coastline. This single bird’s decision to go in another direction has taken over social media, as viewers began to see their own feelings reflected in its behaviour.
Trump joins the trend, Denmark MP reacts
The official White House social media account shared an AI-generated image showing Donald Trump walking next to a penguin carrying the US flag, while the Greenland flag stood at a distance, with the caption, “Embrace the penguin”.
The picture quickly went viral, though not in the way many would have expected.
Social media users began pointing out mistakes in the image, starting with the penguin’s footprints, which matched the president’s exactly. The main issue, however, was the presence of the penguin itself. Penguins do not live in the Arctic or at the North Pole, something people said the White House had overlooked.
“Penguins don’t live in Greenland. But ignorance lives in the White House,” one user posted on X. Another said, “This is why Europeans continue to question whether education is illegal in the United States.”
The White House’s post is linked to Trump’s repeated threats to take control of Greenland, which is a Danish territory. These remarks also led to tensions with the European Union, a long-time ally of the United States.
Responding to the post, Rasmus Jarlov, a Conservative MP in Denmark, used a sarcastic message to mock Trump, writing, “The message from the White House is clear: Trump belongs in Greenland as much as penguins do.”
He meant that Trump fits in Greenland no more than penguins, which are not found in the Arctic.
Netizens on the ‘Nihilist Penguin’ trend
Across social media, people have added their own text to the clip, using lines like “The penguin knows” and hailed it for reflecting human feelings.
“The penguin edit goes viral because it shows exactly what many people feel inside: stuck in a boring, toxic or trapping life like a shitty job, fake friends or just the same old routine that slowly kills your soul,” one user said on X.
Another user wrote, “Generation so cooked that a penguin walking is motivating 1000s of people,” while someone else posted, “We are all penguins on our way to the mountains and we owe explanation to nobody.”
